The Doctor frantically ran around searching for the TARDIS, turning over small stones, kicking through leaf piles and climbing up trees in vain attempt to find it.
"You don't think the dragons took it, do you?" Windsor asked.
"That's absolutely ridiculous," the Doctor spat at Windsor as he turned to Kazuhira. "Could they have taken it?"
Kazuhira thought for a moment. "I have witnessed them steal people, animals, even merchant stands. It is entirely possible the Serpentines have taken your blue box."
"Well why don't we just turn on the LoJack and track it down?" Truman suggested.
"Don't be silly, I don't have LoJack on the TARDIS," the Doctor scoffed. "I never lose it."
"Well you've lost it now," Windsor kindly pointed out.
"It's not lost, just misplaced," the Doctor pointedly asserted as he took out his sonic screwdriver and waved it around the area. "Looks like traces of huon particles are still resonating in the area. I may be able to follow the trail to its location. Oh, you clever girl, you!" The Doctor jovially fiddled with his sonic until the settings were optimized, and began to follow the invisible trail.
"Is he implying that his blue box is a living being?" Kazuhira asked Truman.
"You know, I've learned to tune out the madness at this point," he said tiredly. They hurried after him as he darted between trees. "Doctor, do you think the TARDIS will still be functional after having been in the mouth of a Serpentine?"
"Of course it will!" the Doctor replied, offended by Truman's question. "It's force fields have withstood volcanoes, explosions, and even bad paint jobs, I'm sure it can handle a little dragon slobber."
"A force field is a protective covering over things," Windsor explained to Kazuhira.
"I know what a force field is," she said flatly. "My people have been using them for generations." Truman snickered at Windsor's deflation. Suddenly Kazuhira stopped walking, prompting Truman to immediately worry.
"What time is it?" she asked gravely. Truman pulled out his pocket watch, an old sliver fob watch with a single nail imprinted on its lid, and read off the hour.
"Damn," she cursed, kicking the nearest rock which bee-lined towards Windsor's ankle. As he howled in pain, Kazuhira looked at Truman. "We are too late to find the Serpentines now. They disappear around this hour every night without a trace. We will not be able to track them."
The Doctor nodded sadly and pocketed his sonic. "I suppose you're right. You'll have to take us to the village so we can spend the night, possibly finding clues as well if we aren't too busy." He rubbed his hands, his worry for his constant companion seemingly gone. Kazuhira shook her head.
"I am not allowed within the village walls. The most I can do is show you where it is, but no more than that."
"We would be eternally grateful for your guidance," Truman said as he slashed his hand across his face. She nodded reluctantly and began to walk towards the village.
They found themselves on a large cliff overlooking the town, which was surrounded on all sides by a circular wall. Within the confines of the main wall were lines of walls branching from the very middle of the town like spokes in a wheel.
"It looks like a giant clock," Windsor noted in disbelief. Kazuhira nodded.
"The city of Jikan, my birthplace and my former prison."
"You were in prison?" Truman asked, half shocked and half aroused.
"Think she meant that figuratively, Truman," the Doctor pointed out to a now glum Truman. "The City of Time then, no wonder you were banished for being late. Thank you for leading us here. We will meet you back where the TARDIS was tomorrow." Kazuhira gave a slight bow and disappeared into the forest.
"Don't be late, eh Kazuhira?" Windsor chuckled when he thought she was out of earshot. A rock appeared from the dense treeline and collided with Windsor's head. He was still feeling its effects as they approached the main gate.
"That was a lovely watch you have, Truman," the Doctor commented. "Family heirloom?"
"Yeah it was my grandfather's," he said. "He was a carpenter, which is why he had a nail put on the front of the watch. That and because of some philosophy he had. Always used to tell me how one nail could mean the world, and preached not to underestimate anything and all that nonsense. There was a proverb he held dear… 'For want of a nail…'"
"At this point isn't there someone supposed to stop us from walking in?" Windsor interrupted as they walked in without anyone stopping them.
"They already knew we were coming," the Doctor said as they eyed the empty streets of the town. "Be on guard. Expect the unexpected."
A noise sounded behind them, and the three turned around quickly. The Doctor brandished his sonic in front of him in a riposte stance. Windsor took his cricket bat out from nowhere, holding it with intention to strike. Truman put his fists out in front of him, knowing full well what little effect they would have on whatever was assailing them…
And then reconsidered that thought when he saw it was a little girl.
"Come with me," she said in a bubbly manner, immediately disarming Truman and Windsor. The Doctor continued his alert stance.
"And what if we don't want to?" the Doctor asked, a tone of suspicion entering his voice.
"Then the archers stationed around this area will have to fire," the girl replied in the same warm tone. The Doctor nodded and beckoned her forward to their destination. Truman and Windsor looked wildly around for signs of any arrows flying towards them.
The girl led them to the center of the town, which was itself enveloped in walls. Guards stepped aside as they entered the palace, decorated from head to toe in hues of red and orange. They stopped in front of a large throne, on which a young woman sat.
"Thank you, kodomo," the woman said to the child, who crossed her hand over her face and left. "So you are the intruders to our land."
"Now wait a minute, we aren't…" Windsor defended before being cut off by the Doctor, who up until that point had been trying to keep his sonic from going off to no avail.
"Yes, we are the intruders. Why have you brought us here?" he asked, putting his sonic in his jacket pocket where it silently continued to buzz.
"We have discovered your ship," she answered, gesturing to a doorway where four guards carried the TARDIS into view, prompting the Doctor to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Well there you are! You scared me half to death," the Doctor ran to the TARDIS, inspecting it as a mother inspects a small child. "They haven't slobbered on you, have they?" The guards looked at the woman on the throne, confused as to what they should do.
"Yes, your ship," the woman continued, prompting the Doctor to divide his attention between her and the TARDIS. "We have need of your assistance."
"What would you like us to do?" Truman asked, approaching the throne before being pushed back by one of the guards at the foot of the woman.
"How did you know who we are?" questioned Windsor.
"We have spies everywhere," she said as she gestured encompassingly. "We have monitored your journey since your encounter with… Kazuhira."
"Ah, so you know our warrior woman?" the Doctor interjected as he walked back to the throne. "And you seem to know about us, but yet we know nothing about you. Tell us about yourself, please so I can properly meet you acquaintance."
"I am Ken'i, the leader of the people of Senzi. I ask for your assistance in eradicating the Serpentine threat. We have tried for many weeks to rid ourselves of them, but they continue to be the bane of my people."
"You're spies must have misinformed you," the Doctor said flatly. "We don't kill. There is a peaceful solution to be found and we will be happy to find it. We shall need your cooperation in coming to an understanding with these creatures."
"There is no understanding to be found here, Doctor," Ken'i shouted, her fist clenched tightly on the arm of the throne. "They have attacked us with malice and hatred, and we must respond in kind."
"They have every right to live as you do," the Doctor responded, his teeth clenched in a fury Truman had never seen before. "You haven't exactly been laying out the welcome mat for them, have you? You attack on sight and don't stop to ask why. There can be coexistence between you and the Serpentines if you only offer the olive branch."
Ken'i scoffed at the Doctor's words. "So they can burn it with their fiery breath? Your words are nothing to us who have experienced their wrath. They take our children and our homes without care, and they grow by the day and threaten to envelope us. I thought I could use you to secure the safety of our land, but I was sorely mistaken." She gestured to the guards to seize them, which they did unquestioningly.
"You can't do this, Ken'i!" the Doctor yelled as the guards took them away from the throne. "You must listen to reason! War is not the answer to this problem, believe me. It'll only make it worse!"
"Take them to the dungeon," Ken'i spat as she watched them being dragged away. "Perhaps confinement will help them better than it helped my sister before she was exiled."